Gay Marrakh 2023 Travel Gui - Hotels, Bars, & Events

Contents:

• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS MOROC
• WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?
• GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS
• HOW MOROC BEME A HAVEN FOR GAY WTERNERS THE 1950S
• DOZENS OF GAY MEN ARE OUTED MOROC AS PHOTOS ARE SPREAD ONLE
• GAY MOROC TRAVEL GUI
• MOROC USED TO BE A HAVEN FOR GAY ARTISTS. IT’S A B MORE COMPLITED NOW
• GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS MOROC

Moroc has been and remas a popular statn for LGBTQ+ travelers spe beg an Islamic untry where homosexualy is illegal and punishable by law. Homosexualy is seen by most of the populatn as a threat to the “tradnal valu” that support the expectatn of heterosexual norms and Mlim teachgs.

As a nservative Mlim untry where homosexualy is illegal, there aren’t any official “gay hot spots” or LGBTQ+ celebratns. That’s not to say that gay-iendly bars, rtrants, night clubs or beach do not exist. In urban centers like Tangier, Marrakech and Agadir, ’s possible to fd gay-iendly acmodatns and spots that wele a mix of gay and straight visors.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?

Homosexualy is nsired relatively mon, though rarely acknowledged, amongst Morocn men. Platonic affectn between Morocn mal -- such as holdg hands, which is a sign of iendship and rpect -- is eely shown, and some of the Berber trib (the Atlas Chlh, for example) are known as particularly tolerant toward homosexual behavr. For both gays and lbians, discretn is advised.

GAY-IENDLY: MARRAKECH FOR HOMOSEXUALS

Tangier -- the world's first gay rort -- is still nsired somewhat gay-iendly.

Marrakech certaly has a mi gay scene, thanks largely to the number of gay French upl now ridg there.

HOW MOROC BEME A HAVEN FOR GAY WTERNERS THE 1950S

The Internatnal Gay and Lbian Travel Associatn (IGLTA; tel. 800/448-8550 or 954/776-2626;) is the tra associatn for the gay and lbian travel dtry, and offers an onle directory of gay- and lbian-iendly travel bs and tour operators. -based onle travel rource of statns that ter to the gay liftyle, cludg Moroc.

Beyond the Mask () has gay-based rmatn and news articl on each Ain untry, cludg Moroc.

GlobalGayz () is a gay-owned travel, news, and culture webse foced on l-bi-gay-trans life untri around the world. Their exposé and other stori on gay life Moroc are very tertg and well rearched.

DOZENS OF GAY MEN ARE OUTED MOROC AS PHOTOS ARE SPREAD ONLE

The followg travel guis are available at many bookstor, or you n orr them om any onle bookseller: Spartac Internatnal Gay Gui (Bno Gmünr Verlag;); Odysss: The Internatnal Gay Travel Planner (); and the Damron guis (), wh separate annual books for gay men and lbians. Jamaa el Fna, Marrakech’s ma square, is the cy’s primary gay cisg spot after dk.

GAY MOROC TRAVEL GUI

For those who heard about the se of Ray Cole—a Brish tourist arrted last year Marrakech, Moroc, on spicn of mtg “homosexual acts” and sentenced to four months’ hard time a Morocn jail prr to his early release— is perhaps difficult to image that Moroc was somethg of a gay paradise for whe men of standg the aftermath of World War II. Somethg of the gay scene moved to Marrakech, but suffice to say, is far removed om Tangier’s heyday and very much nfed to the margs.

Gay life tak place the pths of certa hammams (Turkish baths) and the back rows of cemas, if people happen to know the right spots; needls to say, cisg plays an important role.

There are no gay bars, but a mix of gay and straight patrons n be found clubs that ter primarily to Wterners. Seen this light, the se of Ray Cole n be said to be another part of the story of the wherg away of gay life Moroc, or at the very least, the end of turng of a bld eye to . But what is more signifint about Cole’s se is that monstrat the te realy for gay men Moroc, namely, that while the laws on homosexualy are enforced nsistently, there is evintly a double standard employed their applitn.

MOROC USED TO BE A HAVEN FOR GAY ARTISTS. IT’S A B MORE COMPLITED NOW

The lerature available to potential gay travelers to Moroc—of which there is a great al sce, spe of laws and social norms there, Moroc remas a prime statn for package holiday-goers om Bra, France, and Germany—is very clear settg out what is and isn’t acceptable. Gay upl should rea om public displays of affectn and would be advised to seek out hotels and riads (a tradnal hoe wh an terr urtyard) known to be gay-iendly. The arrt of Morocns for “homosexual acts” occurs every day and go unreported.

The scen of Cole’s fay greetg him at Bra’s Gatwick Airport ntrast starkly wh how gay men are treated Morocn society: looked down upon, rejected by their fai, dismissed wh the Maghrebi Arabic slur zamel.

“More than [Cole’s] own se, what happened to him shows how vulnerable gay Morocns are, ”Abllah Taïa, a Morocn wrer and filmmaker who now liv exile, wrote The Guardian, “They are at the mercy of anyone. ” To the qutn of what is like to be gay Moroc, then, the answer very much means one thg to a Wtern visor and que another to Morocn natnals, who are nsired by their society and their state to be of lser value.

GAY MARRAKH TRAVEL GUI

Travelg to an Islamic untry and experiencg the magic of the Thoand and One Nights together – as a homosexual uple?

Even though Marrakech’s clubs and hotels do not openly e labels such as “gay” or “gay-iendly” for advertisg, is the new “Pk Cy”, havg overtaken the formerly ternatnal zone of Tanger. To beg wh: Acrdg to Morocn law, homosexual acts are illegal and will be punished severely. Near Rabat, for example, two young Morocns were sentenced to four months imprisonment each 2013 bee of homosexual ntacts.